VI Corps (German Empire)


The VI Army Corps / VI AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
Originating in 1815 as the General Command for the Province of Silesia with headquarters in Breslau.
The Corps served in the Austro-Prussian War. During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 3rd Army.
In peacetime the Corps was assigned to the VIII Army Inspectorate but joined the 4th Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Austro-Prussian War

VI Corps fought in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, seeing action in the Battle of Königgrätz.

Franco-Prussian War

During the Franco-Prussian War, the Corps was initially held back in Silesia against the possibility of intervention by Austria-Hungary. It only moved up to join the 3rd Army in August 1870. It then participated in the Siege of Paris and the Battle of Chevilly.

Peacetime organisation

The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:
Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more
CorpsDivisionBrigadeUnitsGarrison
VI Corps11th Division21st Infantry Brigade10th Grenadiers "King Frederick William II"Schweidnitz
38th Fusiliers "General Field Marshal Count Moltke"Glatz---
22nd Infantry Brigade11th Grenadiers "King Frederick III"Breslau--
51st InfantryBreslau---
11th Field Artillery Brigade6th Field Artillery "von Peucker"Breslau--
42nd Field ArtillerySchweidnitz---
11th Cavalry Brigade1st Life Cuirassiers "Great Elector"Breslau--
8th Dragoons "King Frederick III"Öls, Kreuzburg, Bernstadt an der Weide, Namslau---
12th Division23rd Infantry Brigade22nd Infantry "Keith"Gleiwitz, III Bn at Kattowitz-
156th InfantryBeuthen, III Bn at Tarnowitz---
24th Infantry Brigade23rd Infantry "von Winterfeldt"Neiße--
62nd InfantryCosel, III Bn at Ratibor---
78th Infantry Brigade63rd InfantryOppeln, III Bn at Lublinitz--
157th InfantryBrieg---
12th Field Artillery Brigade21st Field Artillery "von Clausewitz"Neiße, Grottkau--
57th Field ArtilleryNeustadt/Oberschlesien, Gleiwitz---
12th Cavalry Brigade4th Hussars "von Schill"Ohlau--
6th Hussars "Count Götzen"Leobschütz, Ratibor---
44th Cavalry Brigade2nd Uhlans of KatzlerGleiwitz, Pless--
11th Jäger zu PferdeTarnowitz, Lublinitz---
Corps Troops6th Jäger BattalionÖls-
1st Machine Gun AbteilungBreslau---
6th Foot Artillery "von Dieskau"Neiße, Glogau---
6th Pioneer BattalionNeiße---
6th Train BattalionBreslau---
Breslau Defence Command
Breslau-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization, on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. The 11th and 12th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the 5th Cavalry Division and the 44th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. The 23rd Infantry Brigade was assigned to the 11th Reserve Division with VI Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, VI Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies, 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries, 4 heavy artillery batteries, 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
CorpsDivisionBrigadeUnits
VI Corps11th Division21st Infantry Brigade10th Grenadier Regiment
38th Fusilier Regiment---
22nd Infantry Brigade11th Infantry Regiment--
51st Infantry Regiment---
6th Jäger Battalion---
11th Field Artillery Brigade6th Field Artillery Regiment--
42nd Field Artillery Regiment---
11th Jäger zu Pferde--
1st Company, 6th Pioneer Battalion---
11th Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Medical Company---
3rd Medical Company---
12th Division24th Infantry Brigade23rd Infantry Regiment-
62nd Infantry Regiment---
78th Infantry Brigade63rd Infantry Regiment--
157th Infantry Regiment---
12th Field Artillery Brigade21st Field Artillery Regiment--
57th Field Artillery Regiment---
2nd Uhlan Regiment--
2nd Company, 6th Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 6th Pioneer Battalion---
12th Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Medical Company---
Corps TroopsII Battalion, 6th Foot Artillery Regiment-
13th Aviation Detachment---
6th Corps Pontoon Train---
6th Telephone Detachment---
6th Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, VI Corps was assigned to the 4th Army forming part of centre of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front.
It was still in existence at the end of the war.

Commanders

The VI Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
FromRankName
15 April 1815Friedrich Heinrich von Hünerbein
11 February 1819Wieprecht Graf von Zieten
29 November 1839GeneralleutnantFriedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg
10 September 1849Karl Friedrich von Lindheim
10 May 1862General der KavallerieLouis Wilhelm Franz von Mutius
30 October 1866General der KavallerieWilhelm von Tümpling
27 November 1883GeneralleutnantKarl Otto von Wichmann
23 November 1886GeneralleutnantOktavio von Boehn
12 January 1889General der ArtillerieEduard von Lewinski
21 February 1895General der InfanterieErbprinz Bernhard von Sachsen-Meiningen
29 May 1903GeneralleutnantRemus von Woyrsch
2 February 1911General der InfanterieKurt von Pritzelwitz
7 November 1915General der KavallerieGeorg von der Marwitz
17 December 1916General der InfanterieJulius Riemann
23 November 1917GeneralleutnantKonstanz von Heineccius
15 December 1918General der InfanterieKurt von dem Borne
25 June 1919GeneralleutnantFriedrich von Friedeburg

Footnotes